Printing press and folder



Aug. 7, 1928. 1,679,650

J. L. cox Er Al. I

PRINTING PRESS AND FOLDER Filed June 6, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 7, 192s. 1,679,650 J. L. COX ET AL PRINTING PRESS AND FOLDER gwwntozs:

Patented Aug. 7, A1928.'

UNITED suites'l PATENTFOFFICE.

JOSEPH L. cox ANn PAUL r. cox, oF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN. y

PRINTINGl PRESS AND FOLDER. i

Application yfiled June `v6,.

This invention is animpro'vement in .fiat bed web printing presses and its principal object is to enable newspapers ofmore than 8 plages to be produced from two presses and one folding mechanism; so that forinstance, with two ordinary flat bed web printing presses each having a total capacity of eight newspaper pages, we can produce up tosixteen page newspapers, book-fold;or thirty- 10 two page tabloids, bookfold. This 1s accomplished by our novel method of and means for assembling and severing the webs before foldingl thereof. f

lAnother object of the invention is to simplify the web feeding and` delivery devices by 'utilizing the male and` female'cut-l ting cylinders as the delivery mechanisms for the sections of the respective webs, thereby insuring accurate register of the web sections and accurate cutting of the assembled webs into sheetsby one cutting mechanism, before folding of the webs; the combined products of the two presses being delivered through and by a single cutting and folding r mechanism, and enabling us to produce bookfold papers of any desired number of standard size newspaper pages `from a minimum of two pages up to sixteen pages by twos; and also to produce book-fold tabloidl size papers from four to thirty-two pages as desired, by fo-urs.

The invention is particularly designed for use( with flat bed web presses such vas shown in Cox Patent No. 1,457,501y dated June 5, 1923, but isuseful with other stylesof fiat' bed web printing presses. j V l Flat bed web presses are ordinarily capacitated to vprint eight newspaperl pages, and such a press is ordinarily large enough for the usual edition of the paper-but many publishers desire at times to produce larger papers and to do this with such a press they have to make two runs of the paper and profil duce such larger publications in two sections and are compelled to stuft the two sections by hand. An eight page press is ordinarily fast enough, when but single run is required; but where the pressroom time must be doubled by Amaking doubleruns it causes increased expense and frequent delays in the delivery of the said papers. There is therefore a demand fora fiat bed press that will give atotal product of up to sixteen pages in 1927.V serial No. 196,780. f

one run, and deliver such a product bookfold 1n quarter page, or in'mail size last fold.

rHeretofore to Ameet the demandl for larger papers, 1t has been attempted to use two ders, and thus far it has not been practically f possible to feed and deliver the webs of two flat-bed presses at the same and uniform speed at all times as one or the other web will over-run or lead. l f

While in rotary presses the webs canl be accurately associated, the actionof the webs in {iat-bed and reciprocating. cylinder presses vis different, and the'devices and methods of feeding, folding and cutting used -in rotary presses `is of little value in the operation of flat bed web presses.

After many efforts and experiments we have finally discovered a simple, novell and useful Varrangement and combination fof presses and cutting and folding devices whereby the products of two flat-bed web presses can be reliably associated, delivered and severed together in suchmanner that any inaccuracy, of feed in one press or the yother is readily accounted for and corrected by immediately lsevering the assembled webs before they are folded. l l

' In the accompanying drawings rwe have' diagrammatically .illustrated one practical apparatus embodying the invention and will Y explain the same with reference to said drawings, to en able others to understand and` use the invention: and we have summarized the claims, the essentials of the invention and the novel features of construction and novel combinations of parts for which protection is desired.

. In said drawings,- y

Figure lV isV a rear end elevation partly broken awayv of two fiat-bed web printing presses and a commony cutting and folding mechanism arranged in accordance with our invention; Y

Fig 2 is a diagrammatic partial top plan view of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the male cutting cylinder and the disappearing knife,and its operating devices;

lll)

Fig. 4f is a detailed elevation of the cutting cylinders and co-acting devices.

P and l represent two flat-bed recipro* eating cylinder web perfecting presses constructed substantially as in the aforesaid Cox patent; but they may be of any other suitable construction, and printeither on one or both strokes of the cylinders. These two presses are preferably arranged side by side but spaced apart sufficiently to permit a folding mechanism F to be interposed between them. Such folding mechanism is preferably arranged adjacent the drive end of the press. lt is unnecessary to illustrate or describe such presses in detail, because the present invention relates to the means for assnnbling, delivering, cutting and folding the webs after they have been printed by such presses. rihe presses are usuali adapted to prin'twebs four .news-paper pages wide. After such webs have been printed t-he web in each press is divided into two longitudinal web sections.

In the drawings the web printed by press P is divided into two sections w and wz, by a slitter S. The web printedby press l is divided by slitter S into two longitudinal sections w3 and tot.

Each section of the web ('w and ce2) coming` from press P is given a quarter turn over an angle bar or guide (al, and a2) and led toward the folder between the presses. limilarlyl each sectionv of web (w3 and wt) printed by press l is given a quarter turn over an angle bar (CL3, et) and lcc toward the folder between the press.

Mounted in the frame above the folder and between the presses is a. pair of cutting cylinders, l and i2, whose axes are preferably disposed. parallel with tue longitudinal axes of the printing presses, and at right anto the axes of the impression cylinders of saidV pr i. Cooperating with the female cutting cylinder l is a. roll 3, which may be geared to the'cylindcr l, or driven by a frictional contact therewith orin other suitable manner.

Cooperating with the inalecutting cylinder 2 is a web forwarding means, preiierably comprising a series of coaxing tapes running over a triangularly arranged series of roll rs al@ so disposed that portions of the tapesV contact withY the periphery of cylinder 2 and cooljierate therewith to deliver the webs co3, tot to the cutting point. One of the rollersdlL may be made adjustable for 'the purpose of varying the tension on the tapes 4l, to regulate the pull or tension of the web sections wf", wt, drawn forward by the tapes i and cylinder 2.

As shown, the sections w and 'w2 of the web from press l) are assembled by turning them over angle bars al and u2 and the assembled sections are led to and between the cylinder l and cooperating roll 3, which act as a means for delivering such web section from the press l to and between the cut-ting cylinders l and 2.

Similarly the web sections w3 and wt are assembled by turning them over the angle bars 0:3 and at, and such assembled sections are led 'to and between the cylinder 2 and tapes il, which act as a. means for feeding or delivering such associated webs to and between the cutting cylinders Zand l.

Adjustable web guides G-may be provided for the web section fw, and similar guides G may be provided for the web section Q03 so that the'leading edges of the sections of the several webs will register when assembled. 'lhe web Vguides and all the sections are so vdisposed that'the leading edges of all the sections fw and wg, fw and w4 will resister before they pass between the cylinders l and 2.rv

At each rotation of the cylinders l and 2 a sheet length is severed from each of the assembled web sections. This is preferably accomplished by means of a disappearing knife 5, which is mounted within andl movable radially of cylinder 2, and isprojected at the proper time to cooperate with the cylinder l yand severV the websyandvis then retracted in cylinder 2 so that it will not interfere withV the proper delivery of the webs by the cylinders.

rlfhe knife 5 may be operated by any snitable means. In Figures 3 and i the knife bar o is snown as connected at its ends to guide rods 5b which extend through diametrical bores orslots inthe trunnions of the cylinder g'springs 5c on rods 5b act to normally retract `the knife 5 intothe cylinder. ,'lhe

knife bar 5 is provided at its ends with rollers 50 which contact with the peripheries of cams G fastened to the framing adjacent each end of the'cylinder 2; and said' cams G are so shaped that the knife 5 will remain retracted within the cylinder-2 until the knife almost reaches the point of Contact between the cylinders l and 2, and Vthen the lrnife is projected so that it will co-'act with the slot in female cylinder 'l and sever the assembled webs, and then is retracted out of the way. ril`his action takes place for and during each revolution of the cutting cylinders. i e

rlhe assembled and severed sheetsare then folded by any suitable means. Any suitable typc of folder .may be employed. Pret erably we employ a folder having a' plurality'of folding rolls and tucler'blades, the essential being that the webs are assembled and severed before the webs are folded; or in other words the webs are. severed while the sections are all lying flat one upon the other; and the webs are not vfolded at the point of severance prior to the severing.

ln 'the drawings we have indicated av folder having a pair of foldingk rolls 7 vand lllfi lllll,

tucker blade "a adapted to fold the cut sheets to lone-half size; and the thus folded sheets are then passed to andv between a pair of folding rolls 8 by a tucker bar 8; if desired additional folding rolls and tucker blades may be provided .to make any desired number of folds in the final product.

The presses, delivering and cutting cylinders yand folders may be driven in unison Aby any suitable means. As shown the 4two presses` may be drivensynchronously from a common drive shaft S earryinggearsS, meshing with the main crank gears D of the respective presses.k This same shaft drives the folder by means of a pinion t, meshing with the gear T on the drive shaft of the folder. by means of av bevel gear U von the folder shaft meshing With a bevel gear/u on a verf tical shaft V ,Which carries a bevel gear ai meshing With a bevelled gear 2X on the shaft of cylinder 2. the folder and the delivery driven synchronously,

It Will be seen by reference to-Figure l that the webs/w and w2 from press P, pass cylinders can be to the left toward the cylinder l.; and vthe.

sure thatthe Webs Willpass to tlieeuttingl point with absolute accuracy, and there is no tendency of sections ofwebs from one press to crowd past or hold back. ontliew sections of Webs from the other press, and there is no tendency of one section of web to creep up on another, as occurs `when all the seetions ,are vlcd over one roll, or fed by one feeding mechanism. VIn our invention Vthe Webs from one press do not havey anyy influenee upon the vWebs from the other press. Each is handledentii'ely independent up to of paper being printed, the register of theV printing and cutting points of the several web sections is'maintained during the entire run of the press; because the web from each l press is handled independently, and the product of the two presses are not associated T he cylinders 1 and 2 may be driven In this manner both presses,

yuntil they meet at the-cutting. cylinders and ,apparently ythe same .for a short While in a few minutes one 0r the other Webs Will commence falling backlor ,travelling ahead of the other asy the occasion may be. This variation is but very slight but when all the Webs are tensioned and delivered together lthis variation augments until the webs from one press ai'e so much out of register With 'the other that one set of webs, will not be severedat the desired margin and the product is spoiled; many efforts and devices have been triedV and have had yto be discarded y and abandoned in the effort t0 deliver al they Web sections in book-fold.

vWith our invention any slightly inaccuracy of feed in the Webs of either or both presses results in no bad resultsas each see.-

tionv of the web is cut off before folding at once andthe errors are not allowedxto multiply and a good product book-fold c'anvbe continuously produced.- f.. f

In our invention any error in feed isr coinpensated for at each revolution of the euttiiig cylinders and the Webs maintain correct spacing as'they are practically handled by separate combined feeding deliveries; Where if theivebs of the tivofpresses were all assembled and .folded together before cutting lAny infinitesimal difference disappears asV the errors lof feed would also accumulate.

theV assembled webs are severed and go directlto the folding devices.v `As jshown in the'draiving the cutting cylinders are utilized as lthe out-feeding devices and the coaxing ltapes enable us to keep the rvwebs from press P combed upto tension, and fed. steadily to the'point of severance Without disturbing the Webs fi'ompress P. By using fa disappearing knife We are able to employ y thel cutting cylinders as the final web feeding mechanism for both. preses; while the sections of Webs from` the separate presses come rto the cut-ters in opposite directions. The female cylinder delivers the productof press P; While the' Martin male cutting cylinder delivers the product of press P--all .the assembled Webs being severed by the disappearing bladeY at t-he proper time. vThe sections-ofthe webv from both presses arc properly turned by the angle bars employed and spaeed'by `the usual'spacin'g and guiding rollers in the drawings; While the usual Web compensating rollers can be used separately to bring the product of either press to proper register for cutting, even when presses are in operation.y l

We claim: f. v Y

1. In combination, a pair of flat-bed printing presses; a pair'of cutting cylinders, one

of which is provided with a disappearing web severing device, and means co-acting with the cylinders whereby they assemble, sever and deliver the products of said presses. c

2. In combination, a pair of fiat-bed web printing presses, a pair of cutting cylinders,

one of which is provided with a disappearing web severing device, and 3o-acting means arranged between the two presses whereby any and all products of the presses may be assembled and folded in book-fold, after the several strands of webs have been severed.

3. In combination, al'iair of web printing prenA "g a pair of cutting cylinders, one of which is provided with a disaljipearing web severing device, means operating in connection with one cylinder to deliver the webs from one pressrand means cooperating with the other cylinder to deliver the webs from the other press.y

t. In combination with a pair of flatbed web printing presses, a pair ofcutting cylinders disposed between the presses, one of which is provided with a disappearing web severing device; and means for directing the webs from the opposite presses Ain opposite direction to said cutting cylinders, said cylinders operating to deliver and to sever the webs.

5. In combination, a pair of flat-bed web printing presses; lmeans for* delivering and severing the webs `including apair of cutting cylinders one of Vwhich is provided with a disappearing web severing device.

6. In combination, a pair of flat-bed web printing presses, a pair of cutting cylinders disposed between the two presses; and means for directing the sections of the oppositely running webs from the opposite presses to said cuttingl cylinders, said cylinders operating toV separately deliver and simultaneously sever the webs, substantially as dcscribed.

7. In combination, a pair of flat-bed web printing presses; a pair of cutting` cylinders, means operating in connection with one cylinder to deliver the webs from one press; and a. set of coaxing tapes cooperating with the other cylinder' to deliver the web-sV from the other press and whereby the webs may be properly registered before severing.

S. In combination, a pair of flat-bed web printing presses; a pair of cutting cylinders provided with a disappearing web severing device, and means co-acting with the respective cylinders to assemble the web sections from the respective presses and to sever and deliver the product-s of both presses to folding means whereby they may be delivered in book feld.

9. In combination a pair of flat-bed web printing presses; cutting cylinders; means coacting with the male cutting cylinder to deliver the webs from one press; means coacting with the female cutting cylinder to deliver the webs from the other press; and means whereby sheet lengths are simultaneously severed from all the webs by said cylinders, so that all products of either or both the presses may be folded book-fold.

l0. In combination a pair of flat-bed web printing presses, a pair of cutting cylinders arranged between the presses, angle bars for directing the sections of webs from the opposite presses to the cutting cylinders, said cylinders assembling the products ofboth presses and severing the assembledV produc-ts of the presses and delivering the severed sheets in such manner that they may be folded book-fold.

ll. In combination, a pair of flat-bed web printing presses, a pair of cutting cylinders arranged between the presses with the axes of the cylinders parallel with the longitudinalaxes of the presses, ineanscoacting with the respective cylinders for drawing the sec tions of webs from the opposite presses lto the cutting cylinde-rs, and means carried by the cylinders for severing the assembled products of the presses and delivering the severed Isheets insuch manne-r that they may be delivered book-fold. Y

l2. In combination a pair of flat-bed printing presses, cutting cylinders, means coacting with the male cutting cylinder to deliver the webs from one press, and means coacting with the female cutting cylinder for delivering the webs from the other press; said cylinders being provided with a disappearing cutting blade whereby a sheet'length is severed from the webs at each rotation of the cylinders and all products of either and both presses may be folded book-fold.V

13. In combination a pair of web presses, a pair of cutting cylinders, means by which the product of one press .is advanced to the severing point by the. rotation of the femal cutting cylinder, and means by which the productof the other press is advanced to the severing point by the rotation of the male cutting cylinder; a sheet being severed from each assembled web section for each rotation of said cylinders; and means for folding the severed sheets book-fold.

14. In combination, a pair of web printing` presses; a pair of cutting cylinders, means operating in connection with the. female cylinder to'A sever the webs from one press; and a set of coaxing tapes cooperating with the male cutting cylinder to deliver the webs from the other press, whereby the webs may be properly registered before severing; a sheet being severed from each assembled web section foreach rotation of said cylinders; and means for folding the severed sheets book-fold. l

l5. In combination a pair of web printingv inder to sever the Webs from one press; and a set of coaxing tapes cooperating with the male cutting cylinder, to deliver the webs from t-he other press, whereby the webs may be properly registered before severing; said male cutting cylinder being provided with a disappearing blade whereby a sheet is severed from each assembled web section during the rotation of said Cylinders; and means for folding the severed sheets book-fold.

16. In combination a pair of fiat-bed Web Y presses and reciprocating cylinders, a pair which the product of onepress is advanced to the severing point, and means coacting with the male cutting cylinder by which the kproduct of the other press is advanced to the section during the rotation of said cylinders` and before any folding of the web or sheets; and means for folding the severed sheets book-fold. Y

In testimony that We claim the foregoing as our own, we affix our signatures.

JOSEPH L. COX.V PAUL F. COX. 

